Cowardice
by FullMentalPanic
Summary: A perspective on the end of the duel with Miraz by someone who has been in this situation before.


**Cowardice  
**

By FullMentalPanic

Peter was furious. At how after a year of being talked down to and treated like a child in England to return to his own kingdom and still face people who couldn't comprehend who he was.

Miraz would not be the first life or the first man to fall by his sword. Whether they remained longer in Narnia or returned to England where he was daily growing closer to enlistment age, he doubted that Miraz would be the last. That the defeated tyrant before him would presume that Peter hadn't already lived a lifetime where it had been his duty to deal in both rewards and punishments set his blood on fire.

He reigned himself in. Kings, and particularly High Kings did not lose control because of the taunts of the fallen. Besides, he reminded himself, they were supposed to be helping Caspian and overthrowing a dictator. Caspian had a blood claim on the Telmarine throne, and he had been accepted by the Narnians. Establishing Caspian's authority as monarch over both peoples was one of the top priorities of the duel. So Peter handed Miraz over to Caspian and walked back to the sidelines to stand beside his brother.

"Do you think he knows why you did that?" Edmund questioned under his breath.

"He knows what to do," Peter nodded, watching the stiff anger in Caspian's face as he stared at his uncle. As much as Peter hated to consider the possibility, there was nothing guaranteeing that he and his family would be able to stay in Narnia. Caspian was a king, by all rights, and he needed to be the king that everyone in Narnia looked to. It would be Caspian's responsibility to administer justice, and both sides of this battle needed to see that.

Ed's eyebrows raised and he frowned slightly at where nephew and uncle were facing off. Miraz was baiting him, trying to gain whatever power and superiority he could before he was called to the grave; trying to make it seem as if his death would be a victory. Peter and Edmund had often seen that. Enemies trying to squirm away from what they had called down on themselves by leaking uncertainty into the conscience of their judge. It didn't matter how Miraz saw it or tried to twist it, because he was not the one they answered to. This was not done because they could act on any whim or vengeance that they chose. They, too, were under Aslan's law and tasked with carrying it out.

"We figured it out," reminded Peter. This went beyond personal. When you were on the throne, every knee that bowed to it was under your protection. That was the reason there was retaliation for cruel deeds against your subjects. Not for your own sake, but for theirs, and for the One who had allowed you to sit on that throne in the first place. They had been able to understand this, and after being raised in Finchley no less.

"Caspian was raised by Miraz."

That was true. Peter was beginning to feel worried as the seconds stretched on and Caspian still didn't strike. Had there been any appropriate upbringing or role models for him to rely on? Miraz hardly seemed the type to instill the obligations that came with ruling. The tutor Cornelius seemed a solid sort though, and would certainly have striven to prepare Caspian for leadership.

"Peter, it might be his first."

Not his first kill, but possibly his first execution. Maybe he shouldn't have handed the duty over to the young ruler, he considered uneasily. Caspian had to see that he wasn't acting here simply because he did or didn't feel like it. He was acting to show that the innocents of his country would not be bled and killed without consequence, that those who murdered would be snuffed out from society. He had to see that -

Caspian flung away the sword it was his duty to wield, and Peter stumbled as if Caspian had just spat on the lives that Miraz had taken and the laws from across the sea meant to defend and take retribution for those who were unable to beat back evil themselves.

Peter was furious, at Caspian's fear of kinship to cruelty and spilling blood that stayed his hand from exacting justice.


End file.
